TV market is 'Apple's to lose' says ex-CEO

John Sculley says Apple can own the fourth screen too

The man who ran Apple when Steve Jobs departed in 1985 says he's backing the company to take over the TV market if it ends up launching the long-rumoured 'iTV' flatscreen set.

Former CEO John Sculley told Bloomberg that the TV game is "Apple's game to lose," mainly due to the advantage it already possesses thanks to the iPhone, iPad and Mac computer range.

"They own three screens - the mobile phone, tablet and computer - and you can see how important it is to them to own the fourth, which is TV," said Sculley, who Bloomberg says has no insider knowledge at Apple.

Owning the living room

He added that the existing Mac OS X, iOS and iTunes ecosystem and the consistent experience it offers across all devices gives Apple a huge leg-up on its would-be competitors in the TV market

"People don't realize how huge this is. Microsoft wanted the living room, Sony wanted the living room, and so far both have failed, said Scully, who now runs his own investment firm and is president of mobile software company 3Cinteractive.

Expected launch

Rumours that Apple plans to launch a flatscreen TV have grown so strong in the last year, it's now expected that Cupertino will enter the market at some point within the next 12-18 months.

The company is currently thought to be in negotiations with cable networks to secure access to content, although multiple reports have stated the old guard is so far proving resistant to the change.

At the end of last week we reported on speculation that the set would offer a web-stored DVR capacity and on-demand content.